Manthan Award winner, 2014

Hello MP

গ্রামালাপ · Gramalap

Hello MP began as a low-tech link between Members of Parliament and rural constituents: a laptop, an internet connection and a mobile phone, at a spot where people already gather. Over time it took other forms, including connecting MPs with young people at Policy Camp and the Policy Summit.

How it works

Watch the video

A Hello MP session

9th Parliament

where it began, as MP Connect

2014

Manthan Award, New Delhi

2017

three villages put questions to the Deputy Speaker on one call

2018–2023

youth events that closed with a Hello MP session

The idea How it works How it changed Voices What it achieved What was hard Videos News

The idea

A direct line between people and the MP they elected

Democracy works through people’s representation in Parliament. Hello MP was built to strengthen the link that representation depends on.

Through Hello MP, Members of Parliament meet the people they represent at a distance but directly, with the help of simple technology. No intermediary stands between the voter and the MP, and no agenda is set in advance.

IID first tested the idea in the ninth parliament, as MP Connect, and introduced Hello MP in the tenth. The early sessions were held between parliamentary sessions and facilitated by rural telecentres.

What people use it for

Ask about the status of public projects
Seek explanations of public activities
Raise concerns on national or local issues
Bring up anything else they care about

Award

IID’s Hello MP won the Manthan Award 2014 in New Delhi.

How it works

Three steps, and no agenda

In Bangla the programme is called গ্রামালাপ (Gramalap): a conversation with the village.

People gather

Local infomediaries invite the citizens of a constituency to a local spot. People are told about the session beforehand, but no agenda is set.

The line opens

The infomediaries set up a laptop with an internet connection for a video call. Where rural internet is poor, mobile phone calls carry the voice without interruption.

The MP answers

The MP joins by laptop from the parliament house, and citizens speak to the MP directly, in a two-way video and audio conference.

Every session is recorded and documented, so that the commitments an MP makes can be followed up.

How it changed

From village calls to young people in the room

Hello MP began as a low-tech link between MPs and rural constituents. Over time it took other forms, including connecting MPs with young people at Policy Camp and the Policy Summit.

9th Parliament

MP Connect, the first version

IID researched and implemented MP Connect, with Dnet as programme partner. As the programme ended with the ninth parliament, the then Deputy Speaker shared his experience of it at a roundtable on 27 March 2014.

Read: MP Connect ends with the 9th Parliament →

3 Mar 2014

Hello MP in the tenth parliament

A modified version continued with MPs of the new parliament, held between parliamentary sessions and facilitated by rural telecentres. One session on 3 March 2014 covered four areas.

Read the report →

2014

Manthan Award, New Delhi

Hello MP won the Manthan Award 2014.

8 May 2017

Three villages, one call

Villagers from Matarpara, Poshchim Pabantair and Bashata put questions to the then Deputy Speaker at the same time, by Facebook video call. They sought explanations of public activities and raised national and local concerns.

Hello MP session, 8 May 2017

Read: Hello MP holds video-conference style meeting →

Aug–Oct 2017

Fairer labour migration

As part of IID’s fairer labour migration campaign, a member of the parliamentary caucus on migration took questions from citizens in Kalia, Narail, and then in Rangunia, Chattogram. People described harassment by middlemen and difficulties with visas, and asked for help from foreign missions, better passport and medical-centre services, and a help-line for migrants abroad.

A woman speaks into a mobile phone on a riverbank, with a bridge behind her — Rangunia, Chattogram, October 2017

Kalia, Narail → Rangunia, Chattogram →

2018

After the policy forums

Hello MP sessions followed IID’s Policy Camps and Policy Forums on fairer labour migration in Barishal, Jashore and Gaibandha, so that young volunteers and local people could put what they had found to an MP.

Barishal → Jashore → Gaibandha →

2019–2023

Young people present to MPs

Policy Camps run with Youth for Policy closed with a Hello MP session, where young leaders presented their recommendations to an MP: on youth unemployment and overseas employment in 2019, the future of work in 2021, and their own advocacy in 2022 and 2023.

2019 → 2019 → 2021 → 2022 → 2023 →

Now

At the Policy Summit

The same idea runs through IID’s youth events, including the Policy Summit, where young people hand their demands to Members of Parliament.

IID Policy Summit 2026 →

Voices

What changed, at both ends of the call

A citizen · Gaibandha

A local NGO worker described how Hello MP let people speak to their MP directly: to request infrastructure, ask for support and complain about misconduct in governance. He asked for more doctors, nurses and medicine, and the MP arranged immediate health assistance and a supply of medicine. When people raised river erosion, the MP took temporary damage-control measures and took up a permanent solution with the government.

The MP · Gaibandha-5, then Deputy Speaker

The MP described how Hello MP let him meet people across his constituency at once, saving time and money and leaving more room for direct exchange. He could monitor how government services were working, hear real feedback, identify defaulters and hold each office to its responsibilities. Talking with people in the remotest corners built trust between him and his constituents.

What it achieved

Three things a call can do

Connects people

People in remote areas can put their concerns and demands to their MP without an intermediary, and the MP hears from people they would otherwise never meet.

Creates accountability

Each session is recorded and documented. Commitments the MP makes are followed up against the record, which gives them priority and makes a delay visible.

Promotes transparency

People can report misconduct by service providers directly to the MP, who can then hold each responsible office to account.

What was hard

Three problems, and how sessions handled them

IID’s own account of where the model struggled.

01Unreliable internet

Mobile internet was widespread but slow, with 3G limited to large cities, and 2G connections sometimes dropped mid-call. Because three or four venues joined each session and the MP moved between them, a venue that dropped out could rejoin when its connection recovered.

02Politically motivated participants

MPs are a constituency’s most influential political figures, so some participants took the microphone to win the MP’s attention, which could discourage everyone else. The MP played a vital role in steering the meeting away from political discussion.